Matera, The Sassi

• Photographer
  Michele Palazzo
• Prizes
  Bronze in Architecture/Cityscapes

The Sassi originate from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement and are suspected to be among the first human settlements in Italy. There is evidence that people were living here as early as the year 7000 BC. The Sassi are houses dug into the calcarenitic rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia, locally called "tufo" although it is not volcanic tuff or tufa. The streets in some parts of the Sassi often run on top of other houses. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina".

Michele Palazzo I'm Italian by blood, Architect by training, and Photographer by heart. A visual storyteller, weaving narratives through people’s movements and emotions. I live and operate in New York CIty. My photographs of architecture and life in the city have gained great acclaim, especially a recent series taken during the Winter Storm Jonas in the winter 2016. The rich, deserted winter cityscapes capture an enchanting side of New York City often obscured in modern times, and offer another glimpse of what makes New York such a unique place.